1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to epoxy resin compositions which are so flame retardant and high-temperature reliable that they are useful for semiconductor encapsulation.
2. Prior Art
Heretofore, epoxy resin compositions have been widely used as semiconductor encapsulants. The advanced high-speed devices release greater amounts of heat so that the packages themselves become hot, giving rise to a reliability problem. On the other hand, to improve solder reflow resistance, encapsulating resins having a glass transition temperature of about 100.degree. C. are now employed as the encapsulant. Under the circumstances, it now becomes an important task in the semiconductor industry how to maintain encapsulants reliable at high temperatures.
The most serious trouble arising at high temperatures is that bromine compounds or antimony compounds blended in encapsulants as the flame retardant are decomposed at high temperatures to incur reaction at connections between gold wires and aluminum whereby the connections increase their resistance and are sometimes broken. This trouble becomes more serious when materials having low glass transition temperatures are used as the encapsulant.